A Rose in the Shade of Verdun
by TheRunawayBoulevard
Summary: RWBY WWI AU Crimson Blizzard/Bumble Bee, In the French land of Verdun turned to a slice of hell on Earth and the City of Paris, love proves that regardless of war, loss, and uncertainty that it can flourish regardless. Rated M for gore, sexual content, cursing, possible minor character deaths, etc.
1. Prologue

Prologue:

Schnee, a name known, respected and feared by many as the biggest and most influential manufacturing company in all of the German or Austrian Hungarian Empire. Yet here they were, Winter and Weiss Schnee, heiresses to the Schnee Manufacturing fortune, sitting in a trench filled with mud and blood. They had been fighting against the French and British forces for what seemed like forever; over land that had been shelled, gassed and soaked in blood so much that neither side could imagine the land would ever be useful again. Even now, most of the troops were wondering why the scorched land was worth so many people's lives.

Despite this the continued fighting, neither of the Schnee sisters had been in danger. Despite everything, Winter was relatively safe because she was an officer and thus was kept at a safer distance and didn't have to participate in the charge. As for Weiss, she had been placed in charge of a mixed artillery unit that provides support to her sister's troops. Both had felt rather safe, or at least as safe as one could when being shelled, gassed, and shot at regularly was the norm. That is, until the day when Winter awakes to a hand over her mouth, a small gun to her head and an apologetic pair of silver eyes staring back. A small panicked voice whispers "Please, stay calm I don't want to hurt you I have no choice". Winter could feel the girl's heart pounding in her generous chest against her back, but she could also feel a sticky warm substances soaking her. Winters troops figure out where they are and a load of angry German troops coming pouring into the room yelling and armed with guns. But Winter could feel the woman's grip fading as she gets quieter behind her, after a minute her assailant passes out presumably from blood loss. The soldiers are confused as to why their commander is ordering them to retrieve a medic and to calm down, but they know better than to ignore the orders.


	2. Chapter 1

**I don't own RWBY sadly or somethings would be changed. But oh well. Here we go though _A Rose in the Shade of Verdun_.**

Ruby Pov:

When she comes through she is immediately worried when she feels her arms and legs restrained and the sound of German voices nearby. A horrified thought keeps running through her mind over and over "I am dead, they have captured me and are going to kill me" but a shred of doubt runs through her when she realizes the wounds on her chest and shoulder have been tended to, but she can't shake the fear that maybe they are just keeping her alive so that they can torture information out of her, not that she would have much. She is just a recon pilot for the French army. Most of her intel is about them, so it's useless to the German forces. It is a few minutes before a guard checks up on her and realizes she is awake. He runs off, most likely to inform his officer. Another few minutes pass before a familiar mane of snowy white hair enters the makeshift cell. The Germans whipped up in their medical trench. Ruby recognizes the beauty she grabbed last night as a hostage before she passed out, but she didn't realize it was the commanding officer of the enemy garrison. The fear in her gut flares up again at the realization that she took their leader hostage. She couldn't hope to imagine the torture she would be submitted to for her transgressions. The woman takes a seat next to the bed Ruby is chained down to and looks at her with what appears to be concern and a bit of sympathy. 'That doesn't make sense why would she care about my health when I took her hostage at gunpoint. Ruby couldn't figure it out, but as she is sorting out her thoughts the woman begins to speak

"Who are you and why are you here?" Ruby is relieved that it's simple questions since her German isn't excellent. She had been given crash course lessons of the language in training and had picked up some during her time near and in Germany. She composes herself as best she can and begins to explain that she is just a pilot when she hears a familiar but concerning sound. Clearly her captors hear it as well as they begin to scramble for cover, the unmistakable screech of incoming mortar and artillery fire, normally Ruby would be happy to hear the sound of friendly artillery, but not when she was sitting in the target zone unable to move.

The explosions start going off, shaking the earth, killing people and destroying defenses. And here Ruby was, lying in the open with little cover, unable to do anything except squeeze her eyes shut and pray to whatever god would hear her pleas for mercy when, all of a sudden, she feels her binds being pulled apart. She opens her eyes and sees the officer struggling to get the binds off of her, and it brings tears to her eyes just last night she had held a gun to this woman's head and today, she is braving artillery to save Ruby's life.

Winter's Pov:

'Why I am risking my life for this girl I just met, who held me hostage with a gun no less?' Winter couldn't really explain it, she just couldn't bring herself to leave this gorgeous, terrified girl to her fate at the hands of the artillery. She finally gets the binds undone and pulls the girl from the bed and begins to run with her towards the closest alcove where they could shelter themselves from the rain of steel and explosives She pulls the redhead close to herself as they take cover just in time to see a mortar shell land right on top of the bed the girl had been restrained to only moments before. They stay in the relative safety of the makeshift pillbox they had jumped into with Winter hugging the girl close to her in the hopes of making them as small of a target as possible, but after several minutes of shelling, it stops but to Winter's dismay, her medical trench is in ruins and many of the troops that had been with her are lying dead or wounded. She feels a small tugging on her sleeve and turns to see her prisoner holding a rag over her mouth and pointing to a canister that is sunk into the ground, Winter realizes what a horror she was looking at a gas shell was sitting in the middle of the trench and starting to spew chlorine gas.

"MASK ON NOW, THOSE WHO AREN'T WOUNDED, MAKE SURE THE WOUNDED HAVE MASK ON!" Once she yells her orders, she begins looking for her own mask, but it seems to have been loss during the bombardment. The horror dawns on her that without a mask she will almost certainly die to the gas, but then she felt something being forced onto her at first. She thought her prisoner had decided to take advantage of the situation to kill her and escape, but rather she finds herself staring out of the familiar lens of her mask. Winter turns to see the younger woman had found her mask and secured it on her despite only having a rag for herself. The redhead was clearly suffering from the gas, so Winter decided to take it upon herself to make sure the girl survived and scrambled for the corpse of one of her soldiers. The man had clearly been unlucky, the back of his skull had collapsed, most likely from a piece of shrapnel, but Winter knew this meant he didn't need his mask any longer. The dying girl could live using it.

Ruby Pov:

She was dying. She could feel it. The gas was weakening her. 'At least I saved the woman who saved me,' she thought as she lost consciousness.

Winter Pov:

Winter never knew how hard it was to wrestle a mask onto an unconscious girl until she had to do it under pressure; however, once it was finally secured, she breathed a sigh of relief. Now she can only hope that the damage of the gas is minimalistic. 'For interrogations purposes, yeah that's why it was so important, because she could have valuable information'. But Winter knew deep down she had her ulterior motives. She had no idea why this girl she had just met had such an impact on her. She put her feelings and thoughts aside for the moment. She knew that first of all, the girl needed medical attention. But the more pressing issue right now is that if the enemy had bombarded them, then a charge is coming and she needed to get her forces to their positions and have them get ready for the attack. A few minutes of jogging, carrying her savior and prisoner through the trenches back to her command bunker, she can hear the sound of the British whistles and the roar of their yells as they began their charge through no man's land. Once inside the bunker, she issued the order for all forces to open fire and had a message relayed for artillery support. A few moments later, the sound of German machine guns, and rifle fire began to ring out all along the trench, followed shortly after the the whistle of German and British artillery fire. But the British were prepared for this and artillery began raining on Winter's trenches again. She laid the unconscious girl down near her and took command of her forces. It was difficult to tell what was going on due to the gas that had filled the trenches, but luckily, it also meant the enemy was having a hard time telling where Winter's machine gun crews and snipers were hidden, making them that much more effective. Despite the German forces' quick response, the British force did make it to the trenches. And now the troops in the first trench were locked in a deadly melee in a gas filled trench with artillery raining down around them. She knew that her forces were well led with people, like Sergeant Nikos a greek woman whose family was close with some German Nobility, served as Winter's forward trench commander. They would do fine. Winter could only hope the girl survived and held off the attackers.

*A few hours later*

The fighting finally died down after the British retreat back to their trenches and now where artillery and gas had been pouring down it was now just a light snow. It had been getting progressively colder as the winter months were approaching. The troops had mixed feelings. Some think of a time when war wasn't their day to day. Some were sad and fearful since the cold made the life in the trenches even harder, but at least the attacks were less frequent because of it. Then there were the select few, like Sergeant Arc under Nikos's command, who cracked a joke about the coming weather and his higher ups name, which earned a few laughs and a quick smack to the back of the head from Pyrrha. But most were relieved that at least this meant the war may be that much closer to ending.

Ruby Pov:

Finally waking up and slowly opening her eyes, she quickly realized she must have had some of the gas get to her since her eyes and throat still burned a bit from the effects. But luckily, she was still alive and in a bed no less. Sitting up and looking around, she quickly recognized the insides of a house. 'How on earth did I end up here?' Her thought process was interrupted by the sudden entrance of the German Commander that she had saved. Her white hair now down instead of in the bun she had it in the last few times they had met, framing her perfectly. Ruby's breath hitched for a moment before she realized that she is awestruck by someone, who not only was her enemy, but someone she had almost killed hours before, then saved and been saved by.

"Are you feeling well?" Ruby snapped back to reality as the woman asks her a question for the second time in near perfect french.

"Y..y...you speak french?" Ruby was blown away by the idea of the 'enemy' not only knowing her language, but speaking it so well.

"Yes, before the war I studied if Paris for several months, french is a beautiful language, but first you and I have a lot to talk about."

 **So that is the first chapter might be a tad bit short but so be it. Let me know what you all think about this story, share ideas, opinions etc.**


	3. Chapter 2

_**Hey guys new chapter, I will just say this here and now I cannot guarantee a consistent release schedule I will try to get a new chapter out every week or two but don't hold me to it. Also a shout out to my beta reader and friend RWBYWriter0711 ,they are an important part of the creative process.**_

 _ **Alrighty then on with the story, Ps. I own nothing sadly.**_

Ruby Pov:

She awoke to the sound of a man calling her name, sitting up she realized it was Klaus a German machine gunner she had become friends with over the last two weeks or ever since she had agreed to serve under the beautiful white haired officer she knew as Winter now. Thinking back she is lucky that she is still alive and she owed Winter her life several times over.

"But first you and I have a lot to talk about" Winter said in a rather odd way, Ruby isn't sure but it almost sounded like she was flirting.

"I don't know what you think I can tell you, I was just a recon pilot." It wasn't entirely untrue, she only knew where the airstrip was and that the French high command was having German trenches mapped out by the recon pilots. But she wasn't going to just immediately fold and tell the German everything she knew right away.

"Well little red you have two options cooperate with me and I can protect you, or fight me and I will be forced to just hand you over to high command and I don't think either of us would enjoy that." the older girl clearly knew she was in control of this whole situation, but Ruby wasn't all that opposed to the idea.

"What are you trying to say?" Ruby had an idea of what was going on but she had been told that Germans were tricky and not to trust them.

"I can keep you out of the prisons if you cooperate with me, I can tell high command that you were conscripted to my force and then you are safe and even have pay, but if you will not cooperate then I will be forced to let them try and crack you. I would hate to see them ruin such a beautiful face." Winter made a good point, she could be safe, payed possibly just as much as the French had payed her and maybe she could see more of this white haired goddess.

"O-okay, what do you want to know?" Cautiously, Ruby agreed to the deal.

Ruby realized her shoulder was being shaken, and came back to reality to Klaus crouching in front of her with a amused look and a cup of coffee for her.

"Let me guess Red, you were thinking about commander, ja?" Could she not hide it from him?

"N-no what makes you think I was thinking about Winter!" She panicked and took the coffee using it to hide her blush from the old man.

"Nien, I never said Commander Winter, you are funny little one." He plopped down next to her and began sipping his own cup of coffee his was black just the way he liked it but he had used his rations of sweets on hers knowing the redhead liked her coffee sweet as sugar.

Ruby refused to respond and hid behind her cup as she started sipping her drink, it was a great help to drive off the cold that sank in during the night in the trench. She had come to really enjoy the old germans companionship, he was nice and protective of her, he claimed she looked just like his daughter and that he wouldn't let the more desperate young men in the trench. They spent most of their free time just chatting or sitting in silence waiting for orders from higher ups. A few minutes passed just sitting in total silence asides from the sound of sipping, then another trooper came jogging up and started talking to Klaus before leaving.

"He said that miss commander wants to see you in her quarters immediately, have fun little one. Not to much fun though, ja? He shoos her away while standing up "besides I must go on patrol, so go see her, ja?" He stalks off further down the trenches leaving Ruby a blushing stuttering mess, but she knows she couldn't ignore the orders. She got up and headed off to see her lovely commander.

Winter Pov:

She is sat in her quarters finishing up her letter to the command, when she heard the knocking on her door. A smile breaks across her face. It could only be the newest member of her unit come to carry the message for her, but when she opened the door she was disappointed to see it wasn't Ruby as she had been hoping but rather it was the American wardog that General Ironwood had brought with him, Cardin Winchester the commander of the southern flank of the trench, he was cocky, racist, sexist, arrogant and a fool. He was originally an American but he hadn't hesitated to run and join the war to make a name for himself. The disappointment was immediate this was the last person Winter wanted to deal with right now.

"What do you want Winchester? It had better be good for you to have abandoned your post, what if you trench gets attacked while you are gone?!"

"No worries there, little lady, my men are more than capable of handling those stupid French without me commanding over them, unlike some groups we don't have to worry about weak women, faunus or oldies holding us back." typical of Winchester. He thought he was far above her and her forces since he was a man, despite him not having any previous training or experience in leading. Unfortunately his family had money and political power in the US, so he had been able to secure a spot as a commander under Ironwood. Ever since meeting him, she had hated him and his misogynistic ways and condescending attitude towards to everyone around him. Except Ironwood of course, whom he sucked up to like a good little minion. Every time they met she could feel her mood drop like a rock, but sadly she couldn't just throw him out since they were similar in rank.

"Well Winchester explain why you are here or get out of my trench." Winter wanted to just get this meeting over with so she could focus on not throwing up.

"I figured that you could use a break from dealing with the peasants that make up your division and would enjoy spending time with a real man, so how 'bout it sweet cheeks?" It took every ounce of her willpower to not roll her eyes at the over confident approach that Cardin took.

"Winchester, if I wanted to play soldier, I would be more than happy to submit you to the medical ward after I beat you senseless. Not that it wouldn't be fun and all, but I have more pressing matters to attend to." This only served to piss off the easily angered American who pressed forward shoving her roughly, thinking he was in control of the situation. He pinned Winter to the wall, he was just slightly stronger than Winter and had taken her off guard. Winter just begins to yell for her guards when the door opens.

"Hey Winter the door was open and someone said you wanted to see m…wha" Ruby walks into the room seeing Winter against the wall held by a man she had never seen before.

Ruby Pov:

'Who the hell is that and what does he think he is doing to my Winter?' Is the first thought to go through her head, quickly followed by her rushing forward slamming hard into the man with her shoulder. The moment he hits the ground she is on top of him, knife drawn and pressed to his throat.

3rd Person Pov:

"Winter, are you alright? Who is this guy? Who are you dirtbag?!" Cardin stares back at his attacker wide eyed and a bit scared for a moment. After a few moments, he regains his cool and turns to Winter.

"Would you get this animal off of me already?! Who the hell even is this and what is she saying?" Cardin is clearly a bit angry that a woman who is not only smaller but clearly younger than him took him down so easily. "Winter if you don't order your pet off of me in the next second, I will not hesitate to take its head myself." Winter doesn't like the man, but she knows that she needs to intervene or Cardin may do just that.

"Ruby please let him go, he is just an imbecile, but he is an imbecile of my rank unfortunately." Winter was free to insult him using French since he didn't understand Ruby's questions it would appear he doesn't know the language.

Ruby Pov:

"If you say so Winter.. I mean Commander." Ruby remembers she is technically a soldier under Winters command and snaps a quick salute.

"I apologize Winchester but my soldier mistook you for an attacker, now if you would please leave before I have them drag you away or before I must call Ironwood about your actions" Winter had clearly switched back to German long enough to send the arrogant boy packing at the possibility of Ironwood hearing about this incident. She then turned back to Ruby, "I am sorry Ruby, but he is a dangerous man, a dumb one but dangerous all the same I want you to stay away from him. For both our sakes." Ruby shakes her head understanding what causing trouble for Winter or herself could result in, in this situation. Ruby watched as the man left keeping a suspicious eye on him until he shut the door behind himself, she then turned her attention back to Winter. Just seeing Winter made her day a little better.

"So Winter, what did you need from me?" Ruby is bouncing on the balls of her feet, given a little extra pep being in the presence of Winter.

"Well firstly now to thank you for helping me with that pig of a man, and secondly I have a note and a message that I need you to handle for me. The message needs to be taken to the radio station and be relayed back to command, but the note I need for you to take to the artillery trench and give to my sister, she is the commander there so it shouldn't be that hard for you to find her." Ruby blushes at the gratitude from the older girl but snaps a little salute to show she understands her "mission".

"I would be happy to help Winter!" Ruby is so eager to help Winter that she almost runs out without the stuff.

Cardin Pov:

Cardin goes stomping off to his trench angry that he was turned down and enraged that the little redheaded cretin had not only taken him down but had ruined his chance with "his" girl. "Who does that little rat even think she is?! Actually… that's a good question who is she, she didn't look German, thinking back he had heard "Ruby" in the conversation. That must be her name, maybe I should look into who she is?"

Ruby Pov:

She is running through the empty stretches of trench that run between the main regions, they are reserved for retreats and messengers to run messages in relative safety, she had just dropped off the message at the radio station and was running full tilt towards the artillery trench just enjoying letting wind rush through her hair and being able to not only stretch her legs but to burn off some steam. She needed it after that run in with the man named Cardin who apparently was on the same rank as Winter, Ruby feels blessed that she ended up in Winter's trench rather than Cardin's. As she arrives at the artillery trench she ask one of the soldiers where the commander was with what german she knew. They pointed her in the right direction, when she reached the quarters she gave several solid knocks on the door before hearing "Come in" shouted from the other side in german. The redhead opens the door to see a rather familiar mane of white hair, the owner of which had it up in a ponytail to the side with her back facing the door. The girl turns and addresses Ruby

"And who might you be? You don't appear to be one of my soldiers." Suddenly Ruby realizes life may get a bit harder from here on out.

 _ **Until next time then everyone, feel free to leave a review it helps me a lot and if you have an idea or question about the story feel free to send it in. Just a side note if any artist see this and want to maybe make a piece for the story then I would love to see some stuff. :)**_


	4. Chapter 3

_**Two chapters in two days, shocker right?! I was just in the mood to write so I let the muse take me. NOW SERIOUS MOMENT GUYS AND GALS A few have noted certain historical inaccuracies, and yes I am aware of them. Lets be honest here though this is a story about 5 lesbians 4 of which are in active combat roles and 2 are commanding officers in an era where women wouldn't even be considered in military roles asides from nursing. So I have chosen that for story reasons some facts of history will be ignored and if that doesn't sit with you then I am sorry but I won't change. Also 'Pepper your Angus' Weiss is here but I decided to have some fun writing her and she is rather OOC now. Alright then lets get this story started!**_

Ruby Pov:

'How is it possible that they both could be so beautiful, their family must be blessed' Ruby was blown away by the fact that Winter was so beautiful and cool but her younger sister clearly didn't lose out on the genetic lottery.

"Hello? Earth to dolt, anybody in there?" She looked like she was probably similar to Ruby's age, maybe younger. She was shorter than her sister and couldn't be more than 18. It occurred to Ruby that not only was the girl speaking but, she herself had been standing staring at her for the last few minutes. A blush was spreading across the other girls face either from indignation of being ignored or embarrassment.

"S..s...sorry I was distracted. Um, My name is Ruby Rose I am serving under your sister. I am sorry if my german is a bit rough" Finally Ruby had snapped out of it long enough to talk to the confused girl.

"Really? Well, my name is Weiss. You are one of my sisters troops? You hardly look like one, but if you are, then I assume you have something for me from her?" The young officer waited hand outreached waiting for Ruby to deliver whatever she had been sent to deliver.

Weiss Pov:

'I swear I am so freaking tired of all these men, is it too much to ask for at least one cute fun girl in my division? But I guess most girls don't like the idea of dealing with the guns.' Weiss hears the door and tells whoever it is to come in.

'Oh dear sweet god what kind of trickery is this?!' The girl in front of her was so beyond cute and right in Weiss's hit zone that she couldn't believe her luck. Unfortunately or fortunately, her typical cool and calm demeanor held. As they talked she could feel the room getting hotter and her control slipping. When the girl reveals she is under Winter's command she almost loses it. 'OH MY GOD, WINTER WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS FREAKING BEAUTIFUL GIRL AND WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!' She kept her face stone like not letting any of her internal fangirling seep out.

"Well are you going to give me the package?" She nearly faints when the redhead's hand makes contact with hers. 'I need to get her out of here before I attack her'. "Can you please wait outside, I will read this and send a response back, ju.. just wait outside for me."

"Um... ok then" Ruby stepped out to wait while the now panicking Weiss ran to her bed with the letter.

Weiss grabs her pillow and squeals into it so hard that it's miracle the French couldn't hear it from their trench. 'Ok Weiss keep calm and let's see what Winter has to say about all of this.'

 _Dear Sister,_

 _I hope you are doing well, I myself had been having a good couple of weeks. I assume you met the girl that delivered this by now? Her name is Ruby Rose, she was a french pilot who was shot down over my trenches and one thing led to another and now she serves under me as my message runner aka expect to be seeing more of her, little sis. Now we both are probably thinking the same thing and need to sort this now before it gets out of hand, I for one vote we share. But if you wish to compete then we will see who is the best at wooing our new friend. I await your response, little sis. P.s. May want to brush up on your french, little sis, it's what she speaks best._

 _Love Winter ~_

Weiss wasn't sure if she should be furious or thrilled at her big sister for playing with her like this. She set about writing her response, knowing the cute girl was just outside of her door made her rush, not wanting to have the poor girl stood out there too long. Part way through writing her letter it occurred to her that her troops were mostly men who hadn't seen a girl in months asides from herself.

Ruby Pov:

'What an odd girl' Ruby had been leaning against the wall across from the door for a little while and had been forced to run off more than one curious man who had either been pushed to approach her by his friends, his confidence, or his desperation. 'GOD, how does she deal with this many men all the time? But what was up with her, she looked like she wanted to eat me... she is really cute. Dangit both of them are too good, Winter is sexy and commanding, but her sister is cute and cool. Ugh this is going to be an interesting war at this rate. Though seeing these sisters make me miss my own… I hope Yang is keeping safe.' It was at this moment when the door came flying open and startled Ruby, she jumps back hitting her head rather hard on a wooden beam behind her. She goes a little unfocused and dizzy, she leans back against the wall holding her head for a moment.

When she refocuses, she sees a very concerned looking Weiss mere inches from her face. Ruby's blush is instant and noticeable, Weiss realizes what the cause is and backs off blushing herself for a brief moment before reigning in her emotions. Ruby, though a bit dazed from the blow, still caught the brief moment of emotion and locks that bit of information up for future use.

"Are you alright Ruby? Come on, talk to me." 'Wait why is she using french? I never told her that I speak french…'

Weiss Pov:

"Uh, I am okay, but how did you know I spoke french? I never told you about that." Weiss immediately stiffens up realizing she may have just put herself in a bit of a corner. Ruby clearly knew something was up by the look she was giving her right now.

"Well you see, uh I… uhh. My sister mentioned it in the letter." 'Please don't look into this please, please, please.' She couldn't let Ruby find out what was going on so quickly she needed a way to redirect the conversation. "It's cold out here. I am sorry that I made you wait out here. Would you like to come in and have a cup of coffee while I finish my letter?"

Ruby seem to think on it for a moment until a snowflake falls on her head. Snow begins to come down, so Ruby follows Weiss back into her quarters and takes a seat. Weiss made coffee for both of them and then gets back to finishing her letter, when she glances up she sees Ruby dozing lightly in her chair. She stands and walks over to the sleeping girl and takes a closer look, finally getting a chance to inspect her thoroughly without being reserved. She notes everything from the way her hair tips seem to be naturally red while the rest of it is darker ranging from black to dark red, the way her rather endowed chest rises and falls steadily while she naps and how she stretches to her full height and arches her back slightly like a cat as she wakes up… 'Wait wakes up.' Silver meets blue and both girls gasp in surprise.

Ruby Pov:

'Oh my god why was she that close to me, do I have something on my face?!' Ruby falls out of her chair trying to get some space between her and the beauty in front of her "What is it Weiss?"

"Well you weren't waking up and I finished my letter. I thought you would want to get back to your trench before the snow gets any worse, dolt." Weiss says while also sat on the floor, having fallen down during the panic, they sit there on the concrete for a moment just staring at one another before Ruby begins to giggle and eventually it evolves into full blown laughter. "What? What is so funny?" Weiss blushes lightly possibly from insult of being laughed at, or something else?

"Nothing, it's just funny that we both managed to fall like a pair of children." Ruby finally gets her laughing under control "But you are probably right I need to get back before the weather gets too bad. I will take the letter to Winter right away, you have a good evening and thank you for the coffee Weiss. I am sure we will see each other again soon!" Ruby takes the letter and begins the trek back to Winter's trenches. The snow really starts coming down and she begins to wish she had worn something heavier than the normal uniform.

Weiss Pov:

'Why did she have to leave so soon, dammit? Oh well. I am sure I will definitely be seeing a lot more of her around here. FINALLY! SOMEONE CUTE!' She flops onto her bed with her face in her pillow, she can't even contain her smile anymore. "Ugh, she is cute incarnate."

Ruby Pov:

She can see the lights of Winter's trench when a hand falls on her shoulder, stopping her dead in her tracks.

 _ **Alright then, what do you think of this Weiss? She was a blast to write and I think I am gonna keep her around. Leave your reviews I am driven to write by them. Plus I am happy to hear what you all think and ideas you have. Btw sorry about the chapter being a little shorter.**_


	5. Chapter 4

_**Not all that much to say this time, though I am thinking of doing a short fluff chapter based around Christmas in the trenches, if you guys and gals would like that let me know and I will get one out before Christmas.**_

 _ **I don't own RWBY ;-;**_

Yang Pov:

She jogs to the front trenches humming a little march they taught back in boot camp, the weather was finally looking up for once. She had been here for 3 months and the weather had been dreadful almost the entire time. It was so hot and humid; her hair was a constant struggle, but Yang was never one to let that get her down. She had landed with her fellow members of the 51st Highland division in Palestine and had been fighting the enemy ever since. Her unit was proud and bravely would follow their blond commander anywhere she went. Yang had met most of them back in boot camp and had shown to the officers that she was brave and could lead well. So naturally they put her in charge of the squad and they had been friends and soldiers ever since.

She had been informed to rally her squad and wait. Apparently it was the day. It was time for the big charge that was to break the enemy forces and would end the war, or so the higher ups were claiming. She didn't much care either way so long as her and her lads made it through. Yang took a seat at their part of the trench where the rest of the unit was taking their morning coffee and a light breakfast. Her second in command, a young lad named Alan, saw her enter and handed her a plate and cup while scooting over for her to join them around the little cooking fire. "Hiya boss, how you doin today?" Alan was a lot like Yang, very positive no matter how bad things got and always a chatter box.

"Eh, command seems to be convinced today is the day we win the entire war, bunch of loons the whole lot of em'." Yang lays into the small breakfast leaving Alan to mull this over and finish his own meal.

"So I take it that means we are attackin' them today?" A mixture of fear and anticipation fills the boy, the idea of finally being done here was always a popular idea among the troops who were fed up with the hotter than hell weather. They were highland folk, so they were used to the cold and rain, not the desert weather. But they were hardy and ready to fight to the last.

"Aye, we have around an hour to finish this up and get ready to go up and over. So make sure everyone is ready to go when that whistle blows." She stood and stretched before heading to her bed roll to grab her helmet and other gear to make sure everything was ready. Then she sat down and started writing a pair of letters. The first to her father back in London. She knew he was always worried about her despite her being an adult and stronger than most men. The second was to her little sis, Ruby she didn't get to see much of the little redhead but she always took any chance she had to write a letter to her. Yang was more worried about Ruby after hearing she joined the French air force than she was about herself, she didn't trust those paper planes to hold up to a german gun. She finishes her letters and makes sure they get in the right hands to be sent back home and still has a few minutes to kill before the attack so she simply settles in to wait for the signal.

Blake Pov:

She had gone from the lone medical professional in her village to the most overworked Nurse in all of Palestine in a matter of weeks. Being one of the few who spoke english as well as arabic she had been made head nurse of the british armies medical force in the region. Now she had a constant stream of wounded troops pouring in some with minor stuff and some who were so bad she had to refuse to treat them as it would be a waste of her dwindling medicine supply, that was always the hardest thing for her to do but she knew they couldn't all be saved. "Nurse Belladona we have one in pretty bad shape over here, you are going to want to hurry I am not sure if the girl will make it if we don't stabilize her quickly." one of the english nurses was down the hall waving her down.

Blake broke into a quick jog, she hoped this one would be well enough to save. Her father had always taught her to be smart about these kind of things, "don't waste if you can help it, don't take risk." Yet her taking the risk of learning medicine had payed off. She had saved her mother's life when she had been hurt by a panicking cow, and now she was payed so well that her paychecks were feeding her entire village with some extra leftover for herself. She had even been debating using her extra money to buy the much needed medical supplies but she could hardly get her hands on stuff even half the quality the army could provide. Unfortunately the ships took so long that she was always running low on certain supplies, despite her multiple request that ships be sent more frequently it seemed the high command didn't care or didn't notice the need so the ships still slowly trickled in with the medicine.

"Miss you really should hurry, she looks bad" the nurse was clearly getting worked up but Blake began running to see just how bad the wounds were. She came to the doors of the makeshift operating room and pushed them open. Inside she saw a girl who was clearly beautiful but now ravaged by her wounds, the long blond hair stained red.

Yang Pov:

The whistle was loud and sharp, the second it ended she could hear the officers yelling the order "UP AND OVER LADS!" which was answered with a resounding yell from hundreds of scots and palestinian soldiers as they rushed up and out of their trenches. With her squad on her ass she broke into a sprint across the no man's land towards the enemy trench bayonet fixed to her rifle and a dirk strapped to her hip. Hundreds of men and women in a dead sprint towards a line of guns, the whole way the enemy pepper her forces with rifle, machine gun and artillery fire, blood is pounding through her veins as she sees people to either side of her fall struck by a lucky enemy shots. But she keeps running, halfway across the field she hears a familiar voice yell out, she turns and sees Alan falling to his knees clutching his stomach. She runs to him "Oh no you don't lad, you aren't gonna go and die on me, not here, not today lad." Yang picks up the boy and begins to run towards a divot in the ground a crater most likely caused by artillery fire. She gets in and makes herself and Alan as small as she can to hide them from fire, "Come on boy, you are stronger than this." Alan looks back at her with a small smile and a glazed look in his eyes.

"Aye boss, I ain't gonna die to this, just... I just need a rest is all, then I be right as rain." The boy is barely audible talking in a hushed tone during all the fire and explosions.

"No lad, you can't be sleeping here, it isn't safe for that. Just keep awake we will get you back in one piece I swear it." Rounds zip over her head and dirt is kicked up around her as shells rain down on their forces.

"Holy fuck when as' it ever been this cold here." The boy pauses as if to think, takes a breath and looks at Yang, tears beginning to brim in his eyes "Boss, I don't think I'm gonna make it, to damn cold all of a sudden. I just wanna go home boss, why we gotta keep fighting in this stinking desert anyway."

"Stop talking like that you hear me? I won't have any lollygagging from you, so keep awake and let's get outta here." Yang was crying at this point, she knew the boy was done for. The pool had formed and he was getting fainter each passing moment, so she just stayed there and held him close.

"You tell me ma that I always tried my best ok, boss? Just make sure of that for me, and keep yourself safe, aye?" And with that, the last of the boys energy seemed to drain out of him and he let out his last breath.

"Aye lad, I will do just that ya hear me." She stood, taking his dog tags and letter he kept in his breast pocket for if such an occasion were to arise, but the sight that met her was even worse. So many troops laid scattered across the field in various states of death or dying. She was torn between running forward to join anyone who made it across and running back to the safety of her own trench. Yang started to run, she ran forward. She knew it was the same distance either way, and better to take the enemy trench and avenge her fallen brethren than let their deaths go to waste. She heard the whistle, but didn't have the chance to process the fact that it wasn't the command whistle before the shell landed and her world filled with light and pain.

 _ **There it is ladies and gents, let me know what you think in the reviews. Sorry if I am not all that accurate on the combat in Palestine but I couldn't find much about that part of the war. Have a good day and happy holidays.**_


	6. Chapter 5

_**Hey there folks, been awhile hasn't it. Sorry about the wait have had a lot going on in my life, in particular my mother had surgery and was under my care for a few months but everything is fine. Alrighty enough stalling from me, enjoy the chapter no eta on the next one but I will get it out asap.**_

 _ **I don't own RWBY otherwise WR or Crimson Blizzard would have been shipped at the end of season 3.**_

Ruby Pov:

Ruby can see the lights of Winter's trench when a hand grabs her shoulder, stopping her dead in her tracks. She spins around panicked and scared of who it is, she falls to the cold muddy ground of the trench, scared silver eyes meet concerned dark blue ones. A moment passes without a word spoken.

"WHAT THE HELL, KLAUS? DON'T SNEAK UP ON ME!" Ruby was relieved but angry at her friend for scaring her like that.

"Sorry Red, didn't mean to scare you. But hey follow me, ja? I found something you may like to see!" The snow is beginning to pick up and come down in heavier flakes that cover the earth. The image it paints brings Winter to Ruby's mind as she follows Klaus through the trench in a direction that seems vaguely familiar to her. Several minutes of walking and she realizes what is in front of her, the wreck of her aircraft.

"Woah Klaus I can't believe you found this thing!" The plane was in horrible shape, it had taken fire to the left wing, cutting the wing off. The plane had crashed into a lightly wooded area near the trenches. Luckily for Ruby, she had bailed just before and had managed to stick the landing in the trenches. The plane on the other hand was broken into several large chunks, but the most important part, the cockpit of the plane, was still together. Ruby digs through it and finds several things. Firstly, she finds her bag which had her diaries, letters, and several other personal items, and secondly she finds her old gun. Crescent Rose a small semi-auto 'Ruby' pistol, given to her when she joined the military by one of her training officers, she had done some very small modifications mostly cosmetic but she also had tightened its safety to prevent it from going off in her holster after she saw it do that to an officer. Lucky for him, it missed his foot.

"So that count as my christmas gift to you little red? I know is a bit early but it works, ja?" Klaus was genuinely pleased to see Ruby so happy.

"Of course it does Klaus! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" Ruby jumps on her friend with a big hug. After a minute, she lets him go and they began their walk back to the trench.

2 Weeks Later:

Winter Pov:

A few more days until Christmas and Winter had never been so happy. She and Ruby had been spending a lot of time together. Getting closer and closer with each other. Winter was ready to try and make her feelings clear to Ruby. She had gone out of her way to get a nice meal set up, wine, and even managed to get some candles. Now she only had to make sure Weiss would make it for the meal. After all, what's a friendly competition between sisters when there's only one sister there?

Christmas Day:

Weiss Pov:

Weiss had been so excited to spend the holiday with her sister, but even more so with Ruby. Even the thought of the energetic cute redhead was enough to brighten even the darkest days in the trenches. It had been a pain to walk to Winter's trench in the snowy conditions but there was no way Weiss would miss out on a chance like this. "Damn this cold, this is too cold even for europe." Her thoughts drift to a few of the warmer countries she had seen as a child, but as she came to Winter's trench her attention is pulled to the fact that both armies were in the no man's land, at first she was horrified thinking they were in battle but after a moment she realized rather than fighting the armies appeared to be playing games and drinking.

Part of her was happy they could relax, but she is sad that they will have to fight their new friends after the holiday passes. "Commander Schnee, how can I help you today?" Sergeant Nikos came up to Weiss when she saw her watching the troops. Pyrrha was an old friend and a good soldier.

"No, I am quite alright Pyrrha. I am here to see Winter for Christmas! Why aren't you with the others?" Weiss would have imagined that Pyrrha would want to be with the other troops.

"Someone needs to keep the fire going and to keep watch, so I am happy to just watch them have their fun. They need it." Pyrrha looks down at the fire. Weiss can tell something is bothering her, but Pyrrha is the type that is best left alone to sort her thoughts out.

"Ok, well just don't forget you need it too." Weiss hoped that at least Pyrrha would take advantage of the good mood of the troops and the holiday excitement rather than stay alone. Weiss placed a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder and gave her a nod before heading on towards her sisters quarters to meet with Ruby and Winter. She caught herself skipping while thinking about the dinner but quickly stopped and checked to make sure no one had seen that before she continued on to the little house that Winter has taken as her quarters. The house was a bit rough due to the war but somehow had held together and was roomier and had a pleasant homely feel to it. Weiss took a moment to compose herself outside of the door before knocking… After a few moments, Weiss started to wonder why no one had responded. Then she noticed the lights of the house weren't on. Her heart tightened in fear and she grew tense

'It would make sense for the enemy to use this holiday cheer to take out our officers.' thoughts of fear and hate start to grow as she slowly cracks open the door to the dark house. She draws her pistol as she enters the home eye's searching but not seeing far due to the darkness of the house paired with the setting of the sun outside. "H... Hello? Winter? Ruby are you here?" She calls out into the darkness for the sister and her crush. But no one came or responded, fear is now clawing its way into every corner of her soul when suddenly someone grabs her from behind and a bright light blinds her.

"MERRY CHIRSTMAS, WEISS!" Weiss whips around to face Ruby who has hugged her from behind, a moment passes as Weiss comprehends what is going on, Winter is stood there behind Ruby with a lantern lit and a small smile on her face. Weiss sinks to her knees and covers her eyes taking a moment to calm down and wipes a few tears away.

"That wasn't funny you guys. I was really scared that something had happened to you. I don't know what I would have done if I had.. had found your bod-" Ruby falls to her knees and gather Weiss into a hug followed shortly after Winter, who wraps them both in her protective embrace. They stay this way for a few minutes before Weiss' sniffling stops and she looks at the other two girls.

"We are so sorry Weiss. It was my idea. I should have known better. Please don't be angry at Winter." Ruby looks into Weiss's eyes with a bit of tears beginning to pool in the silver of her own. Weiss knows she cannot be angry at either of the girls. Instead she pulls them back into a hug and nuzzles against the two girls for a while.

"It's okay, Ruby. I understand you just wanted to have some fun. Just don't scare me next time please. Now let's enjoy the holiday, ok!" Weiss was happy to have found out nothing had happened, rather she had let her imagination run wild.

An Hour and a half later:

Ruby Pov:

"Ok Weiss that's enough wine for you." Ruby was blown away that Weiss was such a light weight. They were only a few of glasses in, and Weiss was so drunk she couldn't hardly function anymore. She was slumped over on the table with huge dorky smile on her face. Winter simply sat with a amused smile, watching the two younger girls. Ruby was trying to help Weiss up to take her to a more comfortable chair when suddenly, Weiss wraps her arms around Ruby and starts muttering drunkenly about love before she finally passes out. A huge blush spreads across Ruby's face with Weiss now nuzzling her breast. "Uh, uh, um Winter. Please help me."

"Oh but my dear Rose I am quite comfortable at the moment." Winter was lounging in one of the old reading chairs and sipping her glass with an ever growing grin at the antics of the younger girls. It took Ruby a bit to get Weiss sorted out, the whole time giving Winter a good view of her rather sung pants much to Winters pleasure. Knowing that the older girl was admiring her gave Ruby a special kind of happiness, the kind that came along with a blush and a tightening of her chest.

"Winter, thank you for helping out with making this work. I am happy to get to spend tonight with you." Ruby took a seat on the old loveseat, a relic of the lives of those who lived here before the war. She was just beginning to drift off when the cushions shifted under the weight of Winter who had just strutted over and joined Ruby, a bit closer than Ruby was expecting causing her to tip over onto Winter's side.

"Well aren't you feeling frisky tonight, my little Rose?" Winter leans down over Ruby and locks eyes with Ruby's only a few inches separating them.

"W..Win-" Ruby is cut off by Winter's lips covering hers, Ruby's eyes widen and her blush matches her namesake. All intelligent thought burns away in a moment and her eyes shut, her entire focus on just enjoying this moment forever. They finally drawback, panting and gasping for air the two girls stare for a moment before reinitiating the kiss, Ruby gets lost in the moment letting the world slip away with all of its evils and worries she runs her hands through Winters long silvery hair while the older girl held her close. This went on for a while, they kiss until they almost pass out then stop long enough to get their breath back and go back at it. Eventually Ruby breaks the kiss and leans back down into Winter's lap after she catches her breath she looks up at Winter and smiles, a warm smile filled with love and happiness. "Winter, you don't realize how long I have wanted to do that for." But when Ruby looked over and saw a sleeping Weiss in the small bedroom she felt her heart freeze, she loved both of them but there was no way she could be with both of them and the very thought of choosing between them was like a stab to her very core. She could feel the tears building and gently pushed Winter away before jumping to her feet and running from the house.

Winter Pov:

She was confused and hurt that Ruby had just taken off like that, but more than that was was scared and worried. What made Ruby bolt like that, what made her cry, had she done something wrong or pushed it too far and scared Ruby off? She woke Weiss so that they could go look for her. She didn't want Ruby doing something she might regret. Weiss was grouchy and a bit annoyed at being woken and being rather hungover, that is until she hears that Ruby ran off crying. That revelation woke Weiss up in a heartbeat. The girls set out to find their missing lover but couldn't find her, so after a couple of hours they gave up and hoped she would return before any fighting broke out on the front when the sun rose in the morning. Winter had to tell Weiss about what had happened and when the truth came out Weiss was furious for a bit but eventually she set it aside, she had agreed with Winter early on, on how they would handle this but it didn't change the fact that she felt a bit betrayed by her sister and scared at Ruby's reaction.

Ruby Pov:

Ruby kept running for a bit before she broke down and fell to her knees and wept. She didn't know what to do. She loved both girls, but she knew that three women could never be in a relationship. Especially when two of them are sisters. But she couldn't change how she felt, and it tore her up. She wasn't sure how long she stayed there in that abandoned trench section just crying at her own messed up situation.

"Red hair… Are you Ruby?" Ruby looks up and see's a pair of men in German uniforms. One is short with a green mohawk and the other is taller with and head of blueish hair. She didn't recognize them from the trenches.

"Uh, yes I am. Who are you?" She stares up at them with red puffy eyes from crying, she is a little confused, but she doesn't fear them. If nothing else they were German troops and she was serving the German military at the moment.

"Let's just say that Mister Winchester sends his regards." The last thing she sees is the club before it knocks her out.

 _ **Feel free to leave me a review, I would love to hear what you thought about this chapter.**_


	7. Chapter 6

_**Not much to say this time asides from, enjoy and feel free to leave me a review. I love to hear from readers.**_

 _ **I do not own RWBY, or World War One...**_

Winter Pov:

It had been a couple of days and Winter was really getting worried now, to the point of distraught and losing sleep. She and Weiss were searching whenever they could and had some of their officers on lookout for the girl, not explaining except to bring her to them unharmed. But as time stretched out she was really beginning to break down. Had Ruby escaped back to France? Had something happened to her? What if she had been hurt? The worrying got worse when Klaus, a friend of Ruby's, showed up saying that he had found her bag of personal items in one of the old combat trenches that had been abandoned as the line moved up. As much as Winter wanted to devote all of her time and resources to finding Ruby, she couldn't. The French and British had gotten a lot of reinforcements and had renewed their attacks with as much manpower and vigor as they could, leaving both Weiss and herself swamped as they tried to maintain their line while requesting reinforcements.

"HQ, please we must have reinforcements or I cannot guarantee that we will be able to hold the enemy off." Winter was getting frustrated at the lack of help from the higher ups and was on her third request of the day.

"Commander Schnee we are trying but a blizzard has held up the Austrian division that was deployed and no other forces are available that are near enough to assist. The Austrians said that if the blizzard blows over soon then they can be there in two to three days if not then it could take closer to a week, so you must hold the line until then." The radio operator sounded scared, but knew that she could only repeat her orders to the enraged commander and hope for the best.

"What about Ironwood and Winchesters divisions?! They are nearby and should be more than able to assist us." Winter was ready to reach through her radio and smack the operator on the other end, she knew the woman hadn't done anything wrong but she was just so tired, angry and worried.

"We sent notices to both divisions. Ironwood said he was busy already assisting another portion of the lines, and Winchester said that he was busy with training new troops and dealing with prisoners." This caused Winter a pause. she hadn't known Cardin for long but he didn't seem like the type to train or waste his time with prisoners except maybe to torture them. She knew her forces couldn't hold for an entire week without some reinforcements and resupply. They would run out of troops and ammo before then. She had no other choice but to go and drag Cardin and his troops down to the trenches herself.

"HQ, if I can convince Winchester to move up may I have permission to do so?" There is a long pause as the girl likely went to her superior, after a minute or two she comes back over the radio.

"You may miss. Good luck if you do." With that Winter left her command post ordering Pyrrha to hold the line no matter what, she would be back soon.

Weiss Pov:

"Winter where are we going?" Her sister had shown up and dragged her out to the rear and they had been riding for the last half hour and curiosity had finally overtaken Weiss. Had she figured something out about Ruby, but if that were the case she would have said something.

"I am taking matters into my own hands and we are dragging Cardin by his stuck up ass to the trenches to assist us in holding the line whether he likes it or not." Weiss was shocked, but she approved of the plan. As much as she disliked the snobby american turncoat, she knew they needed more troops and ammunition if they were to hold off the attacks until more troops can arrive. They rode in grim silence for the rest of their short journey. When they arrived at the camp, one of the guards was sleeping and the others were playing cards, but they snap to attention and knock their sleeping friend over. The girls ride past and straight into the camp. No one is training. They aren't even alert. Most of the troops are sleeping or chilling out.

The troops all begin scrambling to attention and getting in formation. Once they are in a semi acceptable formation, Winter and Weiss dismount and approach. Winter addresses the officer.

"Where is your captain? Where is Winchester?" The officer begins to sputter and panic before pointing off to the house at the center of the camp. It didn't shock Weiss that Cardin had claimed the nicest building as his own. "Weiss, keep an eye on these morons. And disarm the drunks before they shoot themselves."

"Will do Winter" She snaps a salute to her sister as Winter marches off to the house. She grabs the rifles from the drunker of the soldier, and took their ranks before stepping back to wait for her sister to come back most likely with Winchester in tow. She was annoyed by the lack of discipline, and the apparent lack of training going on. Some rather loud noises begin coming from the house then followed by some rather unflattering screams.

Winter Pov:

She stomps into the rather luxurious house, quickly grabs one of the troops inside, and gently convinced the man to tell where the commander currently was at. With her answer, she dropped the man onto his ass, marched up stairs, quickly finds the room where Cardin is napping with one of the local girls, grabs him by his family jewels, and hauls him out to the yard where the troops are waiting. The man screams and hollers the whole way, but Winter pays him no mind. She is tired, angry, and at her wits end. They reach the yard and she finally releases Cardin, who drops to the ground whimpering and curling into a ball as if to protect his manhood from further damage.

"So here we all are huh, my troops are fighting and dying on the frontlines, while you lot are supposedly training, but actually drinking, playing, and generally being a disgrace to the uniforms you wear. Cardin, do you care to explain to my sister and I why you and your troops refused to reinforce us because of training when clearly these men including yourself clearly lack any training or discipline?"

Some of the troops look scared, others concerned, and a few of the older veterans look disgusted with themselves and their company, but no one speaks up. The only sounds that can be heard are the distant sounds of fighting at the front, wind and the whimpers of their commander. A few minutes pass before Cardin regains some sense of pride he got up and mumbled something about training when Winter suddenly turned and pulled her pistol and aimed at the cowardly officer. "Winchester, I swear to all that is good in this world if you claim that you and your troops are training then I will make sure the next thing your troops are trained in is digging graves. Now you can make a choice either you and your troops will agree to move up and support the front, or I will personally see that every day you have left in Europe is a living hell for you, am I understood?" The man shakes his head quickly, not wanting to make the woman any angrier. A nervous sweat had broken out on his brow and Weiss and Winter both caught onto it very quickly, moving closer and eyeing him suspiciously.

"Mister Winchester, do you have something to say?" As he starts to open his mouth a loud commotion arose from one of the smaller buildings on the grounds, a dingy little structure that had probably been a storehouse or animal enclosure before where a pair of guards were seen heading in to investigate the noise.

"Of course, yes, I will definitely see to it that we will…" Cardin was sweating up a storm and speaking very loudly as if to keep the two girls eyes on him, but he had lost them as both were clearly more interested in the yelling and screams coming from the small building. Had they been looking at him, they would have seen the ever growing fear in his eyes as they took notice of the situation. Suddenly the door to the building burst open a body goes tumbling to the ground before scrambling to its feet and bolting as the two men inside open fire, both girls eyes widen as they recognize the red headed girl who was running for her life.

"RUBY!" The sisters scream in unison, the redhead looks towards them and a mix of happiness and relief fills her eyes. It drains into a pain and and fear as the guards shots find their mark. As Ruby falls to the ground, the two sisters break into a sprint. The ground around the girl is rosey with the fresh blood that spills from the two bullet wounds Weiss falls to her knees and grabs Ruby and holds her close crying out for the girl to wake up. Winter on the other hand whips around and pulls her pistol from its holster and aims at Cardin.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS, WINCHESTER? WHY IS ONE OF MY SOLDIERS LYING HERE BLEEDING SHOT BY YOUR GUARDS? YOU HAVE SIXTY SECONDS TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF BEFORE YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A SIMILAR PLACE!" Winter is shaking with anger, barely able to keep the gun from rattling in her hands, Cardin's eyes are filled with terror as he scrambles behind one of his soldiers who begins to panic at being caught between two officers, one who looks like she is on the verge of slaughter. The man decides his life isn't worth dying over a coward, he steps aside for Winter who is now practically on top of them. Cardin turns and runs when a single shot is heard, the round passes so close to him it leaves a small cut on his left ear.

"P-p-p- PLEASE DON'T KILL ME WINTER!" He drops to the ground and curls up hoping to be spared.

"GIVE ME ONE REASON I SHOULDN'T END YOUR MISERABLE EXISTENCE, YOU WRETCH!" Winter levels her gun with him, when she hears someone behind her.

"Please Winter… don't… sink to his level for me…" Ruby can barely speak, she leans on Weiss for support. Blood soaks the rags she wears most of it from the places where she was shot, but Winter can see other signs of abuse. She can barely contain her rage but Ruby's voice drags her focus back to her "Please, Winter please… for me… do not kill him, let's…. let's just go home." Winter feels her anger drain out of her. She feels tired and distressed at Ruby's injuries.

Winter turns back to Cardin, holstering her gun and looking down at him with a glare more of pity than anger. "You are a disgrace. You betrayed your own country, and then couldn't even be loyal to those you turned too. You are a coward and a snake. I expect you and your troops to be at the front by sunrise tomorrow, or HQ will be hearing all about you torturing one of my troops and lying to them about what you were doing here. Am I understood?" Cardin had probably never agreed to something so quickly in his life.

Weiss Pov:

They finally arrived back at their trenches and rush Ruby to the medical trench to get her treated. The next day, Cardin and his forces arrive and reinforce the front, and eventually, the ententes attacks slow and grind to a halt. A week passes before Ruby wakes back up, yet another week until she is feeling well enough to get up and walk around. The medics are thrilled with her progress. The bullets had struck her in the stomach and shoulder, but at first they weren't sure if she would survive or if they would need to amputate her arm; however, she made a full recovery within a month, though scars remained. Not just those caused by the bullets, but some from the torture that Ruby still refused to speak of. Cardin was now at Winter's beck and call. He couldn't afford to act against her without threat of being turned into HQ. They would not react well to what he had done, so he meekly obeyed and kept quiet.


End file.
